Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Reaches New 52-Week High at $120.56

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $120.56 and last traded at $120.28, with a volume of 127235 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $116.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $98.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $108.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.23 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.76.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.14) by $0.04. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.70) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total transaction of $1,134,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 478,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,223,088.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.64, for a total value of $1,134,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 478,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,223,088.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 10,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.93, for a total value of $1,119,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 207,503 shares in the company, valued at $23,225,810.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,283 shares of company stock worth $7,271,218. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,494,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 123.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 166,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,427,000 after purchasing an additional 91,729 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.